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Rock Plaza Central
Rock Plaza Central
	Rock Plaza Central, July 2009
Background information
Origin	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Indie rock, indie folk
Years active	1996–2010
Labels	Paper Bag, Outside, Yep Roc
Members	Chris Eaton; Rob Carson; Blake Howard; Scott Maynard; Donald Murray; Fiona Stewart; John Whytock
Past members	Doug Tielli; John Tielli; Jack Breakfast

Rock Plaza Central was a band from Toronto, Canada. They came to international attention in 2007 with the release of Are We Not Horses, a critically acclaimed science fiction concept album about six-legged robotic horses in the midst of an existential crisis.^[1] They have been on hiatus since 2010.

History

Novelist Chris Eaton began performing and recording under the moniker Rock Plaza Central in the late 1990s. In 1997 he released a debut album, Quantum Butterass, backed by members of Toronto band People From Earth. For the next six years, Eaton performed with a series of mostly improvised bands, often inviting other musicians to join him onstage at the last minute.

In August 2003 at a show at Sneaky Dee's in Toronto, Eaton invited old friend Don Murray to join him on mandolin and trumpet, as well as drummer Blake Howard (Guh, Slow Loris, Quadruped), accordionist and trumpeter John Whytock (Arrogant Worms), bassist Scott Maynard and multi-instrumentalist Rob Carson (both from The Quiet Revolution, but previously with By Divine Right and with Selina Martin). The line-up had such good chemistry that Eaton invited them to join the band permanently. At only their third meeting, they travelled to the House of Miracles to record The World Was Hell to Us with Andy Magoffin, with songs that were entirely unrehearsed and mostly recorded live from the floor as first takes.^[2]

The following year the band invited violinist Fiona Stewart from Reflectiostack to join them. Persisting in their strategy of never rehearsing, they played a monthly residency at the Tranzac Club, where Eaton gradually introduced into the band's repertoire a series of new songs about six-legged robotic horses struggling with their identities in the aftermath of a war between humans and angels.^[3] These songs would eventually become Are We Not Horses, their breakthrough album recorded with Dale Morningstar at the Gas Station in 2006. Critical reception for the record was extremely positive, with accolades coming from Pitchfork,^[4] americanaUK,^[5] and Magnet, who called it “2007’s finest folk/rock find.” In early 2007, the group also received considerable attention for their cover of the Justin Timberlake song “SexyBack”.^[6] They soon signed to Yep Roc and to Outside Music.

From 2007 through 2009, the band toured extensively, performing alongside acts such as The Apples in Stereo, Calexico, Stephen Malkmus, The Mountain Goats, Sloan, and The Weakerthans. During this time, Carson, Whytock, and Howard all had to step away from the band to varying degrees, with drummer Andrew Innanen often joining the four remaining members on tour. In 2009, the band released another well received album, ...At the Moment of Our Most Needing.^[7]

Since going on hiatus in 2010, the band’s music was used extensively in the indie zombie film The Battery.

Frontman Chris Eaton is also the author of three novels, The Inactivist (2003), The Grammar Architect (2005), and Chris Eaton, a biography ^[8] that have been studied on several university courses across North America. He published a fourth novel Symphony No. 3 in 2019.^[9] Letters To Thomas Pynchon is a short fiction collection published as an eBook^[10] with Joyland: A hub for short fiction.

Discography

Albums

1997: Quantum Butterass
2003: The World Was Hell to Us
2006: Are We Not Horses
2009: ...At the Moment of Our Most Needing
2012: Cover me with Brule.

Live

2007: Live at Urban Outfitters

Compilations

2012: Cover Me With Brule

Videos

2007: "Anthem for the Already Defeated" (Humble Empire)
2007: "My Children Be Joyful" (Humble Empire)
2008: "I Am An Excellent Steel Horse" (Humble Empire)
2010: "(Don't You Believe the Words of) Handsome Men" (Akaflk and Epstein Creative)

References

^ Deusner, Stephen M. (2006-11-16). "Are We Not Horses?". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2014-10-15.
^ "Artist Page: Rock Plaza Central". Yep Roc. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
^ Liss, Sarah (8 March 2007). "Rock Plaza Central". Now Magazine. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
^ Deusner, Stephen M. (2006-11-16). "Are We Not Horses?". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2014-10-15.
^ Cowling, David. "Rock Plaza Central: Are We Not Horses". americanaUK. Archived from the original on 20 October 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
^ Wheeler, Brad (30 January 2007). "Too Sexy For Their Suits". Globe and Mail. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
^ Deusner, Stephen. "Rock Plaza Central: ...At the Moment of Our Most Needing, or If Only They Could Turn Around, They Would Know They Weren't Alone". Pitchfork. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
^ "Robot Horses Waging War On Angels: A Profile Of Chris Eaton". The Rumpus.net. 2009-07-08. Retrieved 2012-03-19.
^ "Symphony No. 3 by Chris Eaton". Book*hug Press. 27 May 2019. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
^ Dilworth, Dianna (2010-11-16). "Joyland eBooks To Release Second Title - eBookNewser". Mediabistro.com. Retrieved 2012-03-19.